1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card connector, and more particularly to a card connector having a specific card eject mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
Systems employing card-type memory devices and using them as external memory devices of electronic apparatuses have become widely spread in recent years. In order to connect such card-type memory devices to electronic apparatuses, connectors adapted thereto are required.
A large number of types and systems of connectors for card-type memory devices (referred to hereinbelow as card connectors) have been developed and introduced (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-251024, FIG. 1, page 3, right column).
The card connector described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-251024, FIG. 1, page 3, right column has a configuration in which the side surface of the inserted card is suppressed and held by a suppression mechanism. However, with such connector, there is a risk of the inserted card being thrown out from the card holder under the effect of external impacts. For this reason, a shutter was provided for closing a card insertion port through which the card is inserted and the card was prevented from being thrown out by closing the shutter. Therefore, with the connector of this type, a shutter has to be provided separately from the connector. As a result, miniaturization is difficult, the number of component increases, and production cost rises significantly.
A connector in which the shutter was omitted to overcome the above-described drawbacks is also known (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-86296, FIG. 2, Par. No. 0015-0021).
The card connector described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-86296, FIG. 2, Par. No. 0015-0021 has a configuration comprising a housing that forms an insertion section for inserting a card, contact terminals (contact pins) formed inside the housing in a condition of extending in the insertion direction so as to come into contact with the terminals of the card, and a lock mechanism for engaging with concave sections located on the side surfaces of the card and locking the card in a predetermined mounting position when the card is inserted into the insertion section and comes close to the mounting position.
With such connector structure, the card inserted into the mounting position of the housing can be prevented from falling out or being pulled out and the card can be locked on reaching the mounting position of the housing. Therefore, no load is applied to the card in the card insertion process, the insertion operation can be performed smoothly, the card can be prevented from being damaged by the lock mechanism, and it is not necessary to provide a special shutter mechanism.
Furthermore, when a card is removed from the card connector, the end section of the card is usually picked by fingers and pulled out, but when the contact is strong, the card cannot be easily pulled out. Moreover, the card is difficult to pull out because the card insertion port is narrow. Accordingly, a connector has been suggested that is provided integrally with an eject mechanism that facilitates the discharge of a card (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-26084, FIG. 1, Par. No. 0019-0020, 30).
The card connector described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-26084, FIG. 1, Par. No. 0019-0020, 30 has a configuration comprising an eject mechanism having a cam member in one side section of a housing and comprising an elastic engagement member that engages with a linear side edge of a card discharged by the cam member in the other side section of the housing and regulates the movement of the card in the discharge direction. With such configuration, when the accommodated card is discharged by the eject mechanism having the cam member, the card can be prevented from falling down and the card can be easily removed by hand.
However, although some of the cards of various types, for example, compact flash (CF) (registered trade name) cards, smart media cards, memory sticks, and PC cards are regulated by standards, a standard that has unified all the cards has not yet been established. For this reason, the cards of various types differ in dimensions and shapes and accordingly the card connectors have structures suitable for respective cards.
As a result, a user of an electronic apparatus sometimes erroneously inserts a small card into a large card insertion port. If an incompatible card is inserted erroneously into an insertion port, the contact pins of the connector can be deformed or broken. Furthermore, even if the card is of the same size as the insertion port, the card is sometimes inserted upside down or back to front. Such reverse insertion also can cause a similar damage. Furthermore, dust or dirt easily adheres to the contact pins of the connector, thereby causing poor contact.
Furthermore, in the connector described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-251024, FIG. 1, page 3, right column, the inserted card cannot be held reliably, a shutter has to be provided in the card insertion port to prevent the card from being thrown out, and the shutter has to be provided separately from the connector.
The connector described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-86296, FIG. 2, Par. No. 0015-0021 has no shutter, is equipped with a lock mechanism and prevents the card inserted into the mounting position of the housing from falling out or being pulled out, but it does not resolve all the aforementioned problems encountered when the card connector is disposed in an electronic apparatus. Furthermore, those problems are also not resolved with the connector described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-26084, FIG. 1, Par. No. 0019-0020, 30.
In order to resolve the aforementioned problems, the applicant suggested an invention the objects of which were to provide a card connector comprising a mechanism capable of preventing the contact pins from being bent or damaged even when a card of different size is inserted by mistake and to provide a card connector equipped with an eject mechanism for easily discharging the inserted card (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-116240).
The structure of the card connector (connector of the prior application) that has been previously suggested by the applicant and is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-116240 will be described in general features with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 shows a card connector equipped with an eject mechanism. FIG. 1(A) is a plan view, FIG. 1(B) is front view, and FIG. 1(C) is a left side view.
The card connector has a plurality of contact pins 21b. Referring to FIG. 1, if a CF (Compact Flash (registered trade name)) card is inserted into the connector, then the terminals (contacts) of the CF (Compact Flash (registered trade name)) card and a plurality of corresponding contact pins 21b assumes a state in which they are electrically connected by a physical contact thereof.
As shown in FIG. 1, the eject mechanism serving to facilitate the ejection of the inserted card has a rotary arm 22 mounted on one surface of a frame base 21 and a push bar 23 linked to the rotary arm 22. The operation of the push bar 23 releases the physical contact of the card contacts and contact pins 21b of the card. As a result, the card can be taken out.
The frame base 21 is from a rectangular metal sheet large enough to cover the upper surface of the connector, both opposing side ends thereof are bent, and two side frames are formed by the bent pieces.
The push bar 23 is fixed by a plurality of locking pieces so that the push bar can slide in the lengthwise direction of the side section frame.
The push bar 23 has joining sections 23a, 23b at one end thereof and is joined by the joining sections 23a, 23b. An eject knob 24 that protrudes outwardly is provided at the other end of the push bar 23, and the eject button 24 is so configured that when it is pushed from the outside, the rotary arm 22 is actuated via the push bar 23.
The rotary arm 22 is from a plate piece of an almost bow-like shape and has a suspension piece 22c bent at an almost right angle to an end section 22b located at the opposite side from one end 22a. The suspension piece 22c protrudes from an opening 21a of the frame base 21, is positioned at the end section on the end side of a card between a shutter member 24 and an end side of the inserted card, and functions as a push section with respect to the card (see FIG. 1(B)).
Before a card is inserted, the shutter member 24 protects the distal end sections of the contact pins 21b with through orifices 24a, and as the card is inserted, the shutter member moves together with the card in the depthwise direction and the distal end sections of the contact pins 21b are exposed from the through orifices 24a; the shutter member will be described hereinbelow in greater detail. As a result, a physical contact can be created between the card contacts and contact pins 21b of the card connector.
The rotary arm 22 is pivotally supported by a pivot pin 22d in an almost central position in the widthwise direction of the frame base 21 in a position slightly closer to the suspension piece 22c from the center of the rotary arm. Due to such pivotal support, if the eject knob 24 is pushed, the suspension piece 22c comes into contact with the end section of the end side of the inserted card via the push bar 23 due to the lever action of the rotary arm 22, and a push-down force that is larger than the force acting on the eject knob 24 in the direction shown by a solid arrow will be applied to the suspension piece 22c in the direction opposite that shown by the solid arrow. As a result, the card can be ejected.
In the eject mechanism of the heretofore suggested card connector, the rotary arm 22 has been pivotally supported by the pivot pin 22d in almost the central position in the widthwise direction of the frame base 21.
Therefore, the position of the suspension piece 22c is shifted from the center in the widthwise direction of the frame base 21. As a result, the position of abutment against the card end side is inevitably shifted from the center of the card.
On the other hand, cards of a variety of forms have recently been developed and put to use. An example of such card form is shown in FIG. 2. A card 40 shown in FIG. 2 has a form of a CF card and is a conversion card for connecting a small card such as a smaller SD card to a CF card connector.
The conversion card 40 has a contact 40a for connection to the contact pins 21b of the CF card connector and an internal contact pin 40b for connection to a contact 41a of a small card 41. The contact 40a and the internal contact pin 40b are electrically connected inside the card 40.
Furthermore, a space 40c is provided for introducing the small card 41 instead of the internal electric circuit of the CF card itself. If the small card 41 is inserted into the space 40c, the contact 41a of the small card 41 and the internal contact pin 40b are electrically connected by a physical contact thereof.
As a result, the small card 41 can be connected to the CF card connector by connecting the contact 40a of the CF card 40 having the small card 41 inserted therein to the contact pins 21b of the CF card connector.